Parenting Makes Me Feel...

Quick. If you're a parent, what's the first word that comes to mind if someone were to ask you the emotion that surprised you the most, since becoming a parent? 

Love, protective, amazed, vulnerable, responsible?

Now think a bit longer. 

Does anyone else come up with words like overwhelmed, naive, confused, and clueless?

Call me crazy, but my visions of parenting included my children, oh I don't know... doing what we told them to do. They wouldn't just taste what was on their plates, they would eat it. The whole meal. It didn't take a genius to figure out that this was not going to happen with Jordan. Because, unbeknownst to me, you can't make a three year old eat.

So we (the parents) compromised by telling Jordan that she only needed to try one bite of the vegetable. We compromised, and she still blatantly refused night after night. She would sit at the dinner table, sometimes for well over an hour, and not take one bite. Until she did. She always did (phew), but never without a fight. 

Talk about frustrating. We were trying our best to be consistent, because research  very clearly stated the benefits of consistency:

• Children who have consistent rules with predictable consequences are less likely to “push the limits” and constantly test their parents by misbehaving. They learn quickly that “no” means “no”.

• Children with consistent parents experience less anxiety.

• Investing early in consistent parenting pays off huge dividends later. There will be considerably less temper tantrums, arguing and bargaining as the children grow.

So much for research.

Thank you.

Us Too